posted 12-29-2002 02:28 PM ET (US) At a recent gathering of Whalers, I counted eight outboards: four Mercury and four Yamaha.

At that time, 50-percent of the Yamaha engines (i.e. two engines) had problems with their power tilt and trim. None of the Mercury engines had any problems with their tilt and trim.

All the engines were of similar vintage, about 10-years old, and all were well cared for engines used mainly in fresh water.

Is this high percentage of failure of the Yamaha engines' hydraulic tilt and trim system typical?

SSCH

posted 12-29-2002 07:22 PM ET (US)
Jim

I've run Yamaha engines since the late eighties. The only failure I've had on tilt/trim units was the relay on my 2001 200 HP HPDI port side engine. The oldest Yamaha I'm personally familair with was my first one, an '89 130 Hp. It had a working tilt/trim unit when traded in two months ago (traded in by a friend who had bought the boat from another friend of mine). I don't believe it had ever failed. All of the experience I've had has been saltwater.

PFSQUAN

posted 12-29-2002 09:19 PM ET (US)
Counting four friends and myself, we have five Whalers, four powered with Yamahas. Oldest is an '85 90 hp. Newest is a '90 70 hp. The latter developed an electrical problem and so far is the only engine to do so. The 225 hp is a 1988 model and another 90 hp is a 1987 vintage. These are saltwater motors. My trim motor may go south tomorrow, but I can't complain about its service or reliability.

John from Madison CT

posted 12-30-2002 08:30 AM ET (US)
I don't believe that is typical. Otherwise how would Yamaha have gotten such a great reputation?

I've owned several older and newer Yamaha's and never had a T/T problem. However a few data points are certainly not statistically meaningful.

I have a friend in the used boat business. He deals in boats from 15' to 30' almost exclusively. 10 years ago he was a diehard Merc./OMC fan. Over the years he has come to change and always says to buy a Yamaha.

His comments on Merc's Optimax's and OMC's Fichts are not re-publishable on a family website. He lost his shirt on these horrible products.

He says " You just don't have Yamaha putting products like these into the market."

Sorry..I'm just spouting pro-Yamaha again. <G>

John from Madison

Bigshot

posted 12-30-2002 11:10 AM ET (US)
Me and my friend both had 1990 Yamahas and by 2001 or so we both needed new PT&T motors in the near future. They still worked great but I could not believe the rust had not eaten through yet. These were salt water engines and if you think that if we had OMC or Mercs it would have different, you are wrong. My bud owns a marine repair facility and in FL in salt, you have to be happy to get 10+years out of a tilt pump that sits in the water....everyday.

RMS

posted 12-30-2002 12:17 PM ET (US)
My 1989 Yammy 90hp sits in saltwater 6 months a year. The amount of rust on the trim motor is amazing, as BS says you would think it would have eaten through. Only failed me once, an old salt suggested I lightly tap, using the handle of a screwdriver, the trim motor, and sure enough it's worked two years since.

boxers

posted 01-01-2003 08:18 PM ET (US)
Previous Pursuit with 1991 Yamaha 115 T/T problem. Boat was always left in the water 24H X 365D X 11 years. The switch on the throttle needed replacement one time. Good thing was the switch on the engine itself worked. Replacement was about $25.00. No other problems to report as the motor operated flawlessly until it was sold in 2002.